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Review – Easy – Tammara Webber (@TammaraWebber)

07 Jan

easyEasy
Author: Tammara Webber

Description:
Rescued by a stranger.
Haunted by a secret
Sometimes, love isn’t easy…

He watched her, but never knew her. Until thanks to a chance encounter, he became her savior…

The attraction between them was undeniable. Yet the past he’d worked so hard to overcome, and the future she’d put so much faith in, threatened to tear them apart.

Only together could they fight the pain and guilt, face the truth—and find the unexpected power of love.

Review:
I have to admit that this book has been sitting on my kindle for probably close to six months – I had heard so many people rave about it, that I bought it and then for some reason never actually picked it up. Maybe out of fear that it wouldn’t be as good as everyone was saying – because honestly, whenever I only hear good things about a book – and that was pretty much all I heard about this book – i am skeptical. But Saturday night when I was curled up in bed feeling sorry for myself while dealing with a sinus infection, I started to read it. And I was immediately sucked in…

I’ve only been out of college for 8 years now (give or take a couple of years), so lots of the visualization in the book – the frat parties (not that i ever went to any…), the classroom lectures, and even the teachers that assigned seating (yeah, I was lucky enough to get one of those…) brought back memories both good and not so good from my college days. You could obviously tell that Ms. Webber either works in a college setting, or is vastly experienced in it.

While I can say that I ever lived through what Jacqueline did, there was a level of emotion that I felt that made me feel like I was there with her. The one thing that impressed me about the book was how such a delicate topic like sexual assault was addressed and worked into the story, without the (for lack of a better word) absolute focus on the outcome of that – it was like it happened and Jacqueline tried to move on, which is kind of what I think I would hopefully do if ever faced with a situation like that.

Lucas/Landon made me laugh and cry – he seemed like the kind of guy I would love to be attracted to, rather than some of the d-bags, that I have been in the past (no further comments needed there). And he was a good example of how hard work (I mean, I lost track at the number of jobs that he had) will help you to succeed in life and that having money/connections isn’t everything.

Overall, I am glad that I finally read Easy (as I blow the dust off the kindle pile) and I’ll definately be looking for more books by this author in the future. 4 stars.

 
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Posted by on January 7, 2013 in Book Review

 

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Review – Fushigi Yûgi: The Mysterious Play, Vol. 1 – Priestess – Yuu Watase

07 Jan

the mysterious play priestessFushigi Yûgi: The Mysterious Play, Vol. 1 – Priestess
Author: Yuu Watase
Series: #1 in Fushigi Yûgi: The Mysterious Play

Description:
When best friends Miaka and Yui open the pages of an ancient Chinese book, they are transported into the Universe of the Four Gods, a parallel world to ancient China. Now, to escape schoolwork and family problems, Miaka flees to the parallel world, only to find a lot more danger and romance than she bargained for.

Review:
So this is the first time I have ever attempted to read a Manga, and i’m fairly confident that it probably won’t be the last. As a form of book, it has intrigued me, especially with the wide variety that I see whenever I go to Books A Million, but since I don’t really know anyone personally who reads it, I didn’t know where to start – and I didn’t want to just pick anything and hate it – to find out that it is a bad representation of the genre. But anyones, I ran across a recommendation for Yu Watase’s on Goodreads from someone who reads Manga fairly regularly and decided to try it.

I will admit that it did take some getting used to – reading a book from back to front and right to left – and there were a few times that I read parts in the wrong order and was totally scratching my head thinking what the heck…but about half-way through, it clicked and I was able to pick up the pace – i mean, I’m normally not that slow of a reader, but I felt slow trying to get my brain around the different reading style.

The story itself was intriguing and I liked seeing the glimpses into contemporary Japanese life (and if our high school kids think they have it hard, they should go and live in Japan…) – but the time-travel parts at first seemed a bit disjointed and I was only just starting to get into the story when the book ended. Which means, that I am going to have to pick up book 2 and see what happens next…and if its similar, I might as well just grab the entire series…yeah, I’m that much of a dork.

Anyways, the art work was fabulous – i am totally jealous of any person who can write and draw like that. It did remind me of quite a few covers from books that are released by Dreamspinner Press – so I would be interested to know if their cover artist has a background in Manga. And the little sidebars put in by the author, just added to the authenticity of the book – they were quite funny to read. Overall, I’d give it 3 stars, because I did enjoy it and want to pick up the next one. I think that this would probably be a good one for newbies to pick up. Does anyone out there have any other recommendations?

 
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Posted by on January 7, 2013 in Book Review

 

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Audiobook Review – The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate – Jacqueline Kelly

06 Jan

calpurnia tateThe Evolution of Calpurnia Tate
Author: Jacqueline Kelly

Narrator: Natalie Ross
Run Time: 9hrs and 1 minute
Publisher: Brilliance Audio

Description:
Calpurnia Virginia Tate is eleven years old in 1899 when she wonders why the yellow grasshoppers in her Texas backyard are so much bigger than the green ones.With a little help from her notoriously cantankerous grandfather, an avid naturalist, she figures out that the green grasshoppers are easier to see against the yellow grass, so they are eaten before they can get any larger. As Callie explores the natural world around her, she develops a close relationship with her grandfather, navigates the dangers of living with six brothers, and comes up against just what it means to be a girl at the turn of the century.

Review:
I have to admit that I probably would have passed over this book, if it hadn’t show up on a random book list that I was browsing one day, and then that it was readily available via audiobook from the library – so I didn’t have to wait on it. I don’t know why it is, maybe because the name in the title just made me want to chuckle and not take it seriously. Either way, if I had, I would have missed out on a brilliant YA book – it was totally worth the listen and I can see why it was nominated for the Newbury Award, even if it didn’t win.

I was immediately sucked into Calpurnia Victoria Tate’s (or Cally V’s) story – she is kind of how I imagined I would be if I had grown up at the turn of the 20th century – not wanting to be what was expected of me (a housekeeper, enjoying sewing etc), but rather wanting to play outside, into science etc. I thought that the author did a job of portraying the world how it was then – the idea that as 1900 rolled around the world might end (does this sound familiar?), the introduction of coca-cola and even the invention of the automobile. Cally’s grandfather definitely made the book all the more enjoyable – in all seriousness, he was a comic relief when needed but could also be serious as well. I loved how he was so absorbed in his own world that he often forgot what was going on around him.

There wasn’t anything really earth-shattering about how the story concluded – in fact, it was a relatively logical progression through-out and you could see how it was unfolding. I did like how the use of evolution in the title could be applied in two different ways – the study of evolution as with the grasshoppers and use of Charles Darwin’s Origin of Spieces but also the evolution of Calpurnia as a woman and a person – how she changed over the course of the 7 months that the book covered.

I love Natalie Ross as a narrator of audiobooks, she is rapidly becoming a go-to person for me. But it was funny when I first started listening to the audiobook because I had just listened to another book narrated by her recently (less than 2 months ago) and I kept hearing the voice of Dani (from Iced) in my head, because they were both young female characters between the ages of 12 and 14. I hadn’t really noticed this previously and it didn’t really bother me, just intrigued me that I could hear similarities in voice patterns even though one was an urban fantasy and the other a historical fiction. I can’t say much more about the narration – I loved how Ms Ross was able to provide so many different inflections to bring the characters to life – especially with the minutia of sounds that are part of life, but don’t necessarily show up in dialogue – like hiccups (there is a relatively memorable scene featuring these), burps etc. I’m sure I would have enjoyed it as much if I read it, but listening added a whole new dimension. It would be a great audiobook to listen to with kids on a car trip because it would suck them in (hopefully).

Anyone who loves historical fiction and YA should read or listen to this book. I give it 4.5 stars.

 
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Posted by on January 6, 2013 in Audiobook Review

 

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Review – Matthew – Emma Lang

02 Jan

matthewMatthew
Author: Emma Lang
Series: #1 in the Circle Eight series

Review copy donated by author

Description:
A man learns to hold what is his

It is a vast spread in the eastern wilds of the newly independent Republic of Texas, the ranch their parents fought for … and died for. To the eight Graham siblings, no matter how much hard work or hard love it takes, life is unthinkable without family…

In the wake of his parents’ murder, Matthew Graham must take the reins at the Circle Eight. He also needs to find a wife in just thirty days, or risk losing it all. Plain but practical, Hannah Foley seems the perfect bride for him . . . until after the wedding night.

Their marriage may make all the sense in the world, but neither one anticipates the jealousies that will result, the treacherous danger they’re walking into, or the wildfire of attraction that will sweep over them, changing their lives forever

Review:
I’ve been a fan of Emma Lang’s writing since I discovered her stuff under her other name (Beth Williamson), but until now, I hadn’t actually picked up any of her books. So when she offered up ARCs of book 3 in the Circle Eight series on Twitter, I jumped on the opportunity. As a bonus, since I hadn’t read the previous 2 books in the series, she sent me signed copies. So while I was in bed this past weekend, feeling sick and sorry for myself, I dug into book 1.

It was to me the ultimately comfort read and by that I mean, it went down easy – there wasn’t a lot of conflict within (although some of the females, especially Olivia were major brats – or insert other expletive here) and there was a satisfactory conclusion – although, I do feel that everything was figured out early in the series – I had kind of hoped to see the mystery behind Matthew’s (et al’s) parents death continue through a couple of books, rather than being solved at the end of this one. However, the mystery behind the missing brother still needs to be solved, so maybe that will be the common plot through-out.

I liked the romance between Matt and Hannah – it was sweet with a mail-order/marriage of convenience theme that seemed common in the time period that the book was set in. Hannah’s grandmother was a hoot – I can’t wait to see her in future book (or at least, I hope she is in future books). The introduction of Brody (who it appears is going to be the hero in the next book was intriguing – I mean, you have to have the darkly handsome, stand-off-ish law enforcement type).

I would note, however, that in a few places that language and writing just felt a bit forced – like it didn’t really flow. But it is hard to place it. I don’t know – just something that I noticed – will be interested to see if I notice anything similar in the next book. Overall, I would give Matthew 3 stars with a recommendation to anyone who likes historical romances with a western theme.

 
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Posted by on January 2, 2013 in Book Review

 

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2013 – Welcome and Goals

01 Jan

2013

As we wave good-bye to 2012 (so long sucker!!) and ring in the 2013, it is a time to think of the year past and the year to come…and to make those (sometimes dreaded) New Years Resolutions…

So what are my resolutions for 2013 – I’m going to divided them up into reading/blogging resolutions and non-reading resolutations.

Reading/Listening Resolutions:
– read at least 12 books of my 50 classics in 5 years challenge list (HERE)
– read at least 1 non-fiction/biography/memoir a month
– finish up at least 2 of the series that I currently have in progress (series TBD)
– finish up the Middle East part of my trip around the world reading (7 countries to go – Cyprus, Lebanon, Kuwait, Oman, Palestine, Qatar)
– Participate in at least 1 group read each month in one of my Goodreads.com groups
– Try at least 20 new audiobook narrators during the course of the year
– Finish Les Miserables – I got part of the way through Book 3 before I got distracted
– Finish the Moby Dick Big Read – Chapter a Day

Blogging Resolutions
– Write reviews for my blog for at least 50% of the books I read in 2013
– Write reviews for all new narrators that I listen to
– Not request more ARC’s to review than I can handle (even if they are oh so pretty!)
– Comment on at least 5 other blogs each week
– Participate in at least one meme a week

Non Reading/Blogging Resolutions
– Finish my dissertation
– Survive (and finish) the Beach to Battleship Half-Ironman in October

What about everyone out there – what are your resolutions for 2013?

 
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Posted by on January 1, 2013 in Musings

 

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Moby Dick Big Read

01 Jan

Moby Dick Moby Dick is one of those books that I have been scared to read. I don’t know why, but I think mainly the size of it and what I have heard about it, have made me not want to read it. But then I read The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach which used Melville’s works as a basis for the symbology in the book. It made me intrigued…

Then in late 2012, I saw the Moby Dick Big Read advertised – this was a program that saw each chapter of Moby Dick recorded by a different narrator and made available online for free (yes, free…). While the initial big read started in October 2012, I didn’t find out about it until after then, so decided to start my own read/listen of it on January 1, 2013.

If anyone is interested in reading/listening along, feel free to join in. We are going to use the study guide found HERE for discussion points, so the break down will be as follows:

Part 1 – Chapters 1-21 – Discussion questions to be posted around 20/21 January
Part 2 – Chapters 22-42 – Discussion questions to be posted around 10/11 February
Part 3 – Chapters 43-65 – Discussion questions to be posted around 5/6 March
Part 4 – Chapters 66-86 – Discussion questions to be posted around 26/27 March
Part 5 – Chapters 87-135 (end) – Discussion questions to be posted around 14/15 April

Hope to see you here – you are in for a whale of a tale (yes, a very bad pun, I know!) – sign-up below if you want to join in – I’m not savvy enough to figure out how to do a linky widget 😉

 
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Posted by on January 1, 2013 in classics challenge, Read-Along

 

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Classics Challenge – Anthem – Ayn Rand

29 Dec

anthemAnthem
Author: Ayn Rand

Description:
In Anthem, Rand examines a frightening future in which individuals have no name, no independence, and no values. Equality 7-2521 lives in the dark ages of the future where all decisions are made by committee, all people live in collectives, and all traces of individualism have been wiped out. Despite such a restrictive environment, the spark of individual thought and freedom still burns in him–a passion which he has been taught to call sinful. In a purely egalitarian world, Equality 7-2521 dares to stand apart from the herd–to think and choose for himself, to discover electricity, and to love the woman of his choice. Now he has been marked for death for committing the ultimate sin. In a world where the great “we” reign supreme, he has rediscovered the lost and holy word–“I.”

Why I choose this “classic”:
When I was putting together my list of books for this challenge, I knew that I wanted to include some Ayn Rand because her name had been mentioned so often in the 2012 election season. However, the sheer size of Atlas Shrugged and the Fountainhead scared me. But Anthem coming in at only a couple of hundred pages seemed do-able (and to test my mettle, I added fountainhead in one of my other categories). Anthem fit well into my dystopia theme – although the year is unmentioned.

Review:
This was a hard review to write – I actually finished the book back in the first week of December, but I knew that I wanted to mull over it a bit before posting my review – like I tend to do with many classics. The first thing that caught my eye/ear when I was listening (yes, this is an audiobook review) was the introduction that was written for the 50th anniversary edition by Leonard Peikoff. Peikoff is a philosopher and founder of the Ayn Rand Institute – he had some interesting things to say, not only about Rand’s philosophical leanings, but her experiences in general in the writing of the book – the fact that she completely re-wrote it prior to its release in the US in the 1940’s as she improved on her writing style. This introduction for me helped set the book and gave some foundation to it, which I think added to my thoughts on it. The most intriguing part of the intro was where Peikoff highlighted the fact that Anthem wasn’t the original name of the book, its working title (and the title I think more appropriate) was EGO…

When I heard that, my ears pricked up, because I realized while there was the ego that we refer to as he’s so egotistical, I thought about the ego theory developed by Freud. I’m not sure which one specifically she had in mind as she was writing the book because I think both could work – so that was an intriguing thought. For a book that was written back in the 1930’s/40’s – I appreciate that she didn’t write a specific year for the setting, just used an undisclosed future – because I’ve found if they set a year, and then you read that book after the setting and stuff hasn’t occurred it takes away from the intended affect.

Some of the themes in this reminded me of ones that have appeared in more recent dystopian fiction – for example, the assigning of jobs has shown up in The Giver (Lois Lowry) and the Matched Trilogy (Ally Condie) – and yet, it had its own uniqueness still. I had to chuckle at the part where he (Equality 7-2521) discovered electricity and when presented with the information, the world council was afraid that with that, the candle-makers would be put out of work…kind of reminded me of working in the federal government where at times there are remarkable amounts of redundancies and you question the need for them, but people continue to argue that they are needed…

I have a hard time figuring out who exactly I would recommend this to, because it wouldn’t be to most of my reading buddies. Maybe anyone interested in philosophy; people who are looking for thought-provoking reads…I shall have to ponder that some more. Would I read this again – I don’t think so, but it was intriguing and now I am kind of curious to see what Rand wrote in the Fountainhead…but i’m not quite ready to read it yet – maybe in the next year or so. Even with my abundance of reading, I need to review my critical thinking skills before tackling it.

 
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Posted by on December 29, 2012 in classics challenge

 

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Review – Sky Burial – Xinran

28 Dec

sky burialSky Burial
Author: Xinran
Translator: Julia Lovell and Esther Tyldesley

Description:
It was 1994 when Xinran, a journalist and the author of The Good Women of China, received a telephone call asking her to travel four hours to meet an oddly dressed woman who had just crossed the border from Tibet into China. Xinran made the trip and met the woman, called Shu Wen, who recounted the story of her thirty-year odyssey in the vast landscape of Tibet.

Shu Wen and her husband had been married for only a few months in the 1950s when he joined the Chinese army and was sent to Tibet for the purpose of unification of the two countries. Shortly after he left she was notified that he had been killed, although no details were given. Determined to find the truth, Shu Wen joined a militia unit going to the Tibetan north, where she soon was separated from the regiment. Without supplies and knowledge of the language, she wandered, trying to find her way until, on the brink of death, she was rescued by a family of nomads under whose protection she moved from place to place with the seasons and eventually came to discover the details of her husband’s death.

Review:
The sub-title of Sky Burial is An Epic Love Story from Tibet and epic is surely the word the describe it. The book itself was tiny – only about 3.5 inches wide by 6 inches tall (so smaller than a normal MMPB), but it encompassed over thirty years in that few amount of pages. Which makes me wonder how an author who doesn’t write in English can convey in 200 pages what it takes some writers 600 pages to do…but that is a thought for another day…

This was the story of a true, unending love – not the type of love that you see in a standard romance (as much as I love them), but the type of love that many of us could probably only dream of. I don’t know about anyone else, but spending 30 years in the isolation of Tibet, trying to find out what happened to my husband of only a few months isn’t necessarily something that I had considered. The flow of the story was beautiful – I started reading it while I was stuck riding in a van to a work location (about an hours drive) and by the time we turned around to head home two hours later, I was 70% of the way done with it (and finished it on the second half of that commute).

I had to admit that the romantic in me hoped for a different outcome than what occurred – but at the same time, there was closure to the story. It was hard to tell while reading whether this was fiction or not – from the description of the book, it could have been biographical, but at the same time, there were elements that I think the author took creative license with. Either way, I highly recommend it for anyone interested in learning more about the nomadic people in Tibet, or about Tibetan history (around the time that China invaded it). I look forward to hearing peoples thoughts if they decide to read it. 4 stars overall.

 
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Posted by on December 28, 2012 in Book Review

 

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Audiobook Review – Maisie Dobbs – Jacqueline Winspear

27 Dec

maisie dobbsMaisie Dobbs
Author: Jacqueline Winspear
Series: #1 in the Maisie Dobbs series

Narrator: Rita Barrington
Run Time: 10 hrs
Producer: AudioGO

Description:
Maisie Dobbs isn’t just any young housemaid. Through her own natural intelligence–and the patronage of her benevolent employers–she works her way into college at Cambridge. When World War I breaks out, Maisie goes to the front as a nurse. It is there that she learns that coincidences are meaningful and the truth elusive. After the War, Maisie sets up on her own as a private investigator. But her very first assignment, seemingly an ordinary infidelity case, soon reveals a much deeper, darker web of secrets, which will force Maisie to revisit the horrors of the Great War and the love she left behind.

Review:
I had heard about this series through several of my online reading buddies who loved it – so when it was selected as a group read, I figured that it must have been a sign (since I didn’t really have any interest in either of the other books selected). I was looking forward to a lite mystery after reading a lot of dark, completely jacked up Nordic Noir mysteries and this was a great palate cleanser.

I loved the character of Maisie – she just seemed so unique in the current fiction world as it stands right now. And the time period is one of interest to me since there aren’t a lot of books written in the time period between WW1 and WW2 (that I have found). The mystery wasn’t so much of a mystery as a plot leading to a realization – or at least, that is how i saw it – while I didn’t know all the details that were revealed at the end, I had a 95% idea of what the result was going to be. But I honestly didn’t mind – for me, the best part of the book was seeing how Maisie Dobbs became Maisie Dobbs. The biggest surprise for me in the story was what happened to the love of her life during the war (but don’t worry, I try to keep my reviews spoiler free – so as not to ruin the book). It wasn’t what I was expecting and totally made me tear up.

However, one of my complaints was that while I liked that flashbacks were used – they were a bit chunky – I think the first flashback actually lasted a significant portion of the book – so when it jumped back to the present day I was a bit surprised/confused. I think it either would have been better to have broken the flash-backs up into some smaller portions – almost like an appetizer, rather than a whole entree – or write the first part of the book as her history up until when the mystery began. I think the former probably would have worked the best.

Unfortunately, my experience with the audiobook didn’t live up to the book itself and if I had had time, I might have stopped listening and read instead. I know that I nearly considered doing that with the rest of the series – because someone told me that the other books are narrated by someone else. I just did not enjoy the narrators voice. While I found that her female voices were passable – her male ones were like torture – I think I would have preferred a recitation rather than hearing her try to do male voices. It just didn’t work for me – which is unfortunately, because I think if done properly, this could have been a great audiobook (and the second one – review to follow in the future), was much improved. This is the first time that I have listened to anything by this narrator and it likely will be the last. I don’t think that I can fairly judge her on any other narrations after my feelings towards this one.

Overall, I’d give the book a solid 4 stars, but the narration only 1.5 – however, I do think that the book overall balanced out the mess of the narration – so 3.5 overall.

 
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Posted by on December 27, 2012 in Audiobook Review

 

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Review – Naughty and Nice: Three Holiday Treats

25 Dec

naughty and niceI would be remiss if I didn’t actually review a Christmas book on Christmas – so even though it is still a couple of hours away, voila! Now time to go back to NORAD and tracking Santa 😉

Naughty and Nice: Three Holiday Treats
Authors: Ruthie Knox, Molly O’Keefe, Stefanie Sloane

Description:
ROOM AT THE INN by Ruthie Knox
Carson Vance couldn’t wait to get out of Potter Falls, but now that he’s back to spend Christmas with his ailing father, he must face all the people he left behind . . . like Julie Long, whose heart he broke once upon a time. Now the proprietor of the local inn, Julie is a successful, seductive, independent woman—everything that Carson’s looking for. But despite several steamy encounters under the mistletoe, Julie refuses to believe in happily ever after. Now Carson must prove to Julie that he’s back for good—and that he wants her in his life for all the holidays to come.

ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS YOU by Molly O’Keefe
Maddy Baumgarten and Billy Wilkins are spontaneous, in love, and prepared to elope the day after Christmas—that is, if Maddy’s family doesn’t throw a wrench in their plans. After all, Maddy’s barely out of high school and Billy’s a notorious bad boy. Maddy doesn’t care about Billy’s rough past—all she cares about is living in the here and now. But after Maddy’s mother stops speaking to her in protest, and a Christmas Eve heart-to-heart with her father leaves her with butterflies, Maddy starts to get cold feet. She loves Billy, but is she taking this big step too soon?

ONE PERFECT CHRISTMAS by Stephanie Sloane
After being jilted by her fiancé, Jane Merriweather turns to her dear childhood friend, the Honorable Lucas Cavanaugh, for support—and unlocks the smoldering desire simmering in the man’s troubled heart. Frightened by his newfound feelings, Lucas flees to Scotland. But when the Christmas season brings them together again, one glance is all that’s needed to reignite his yearning. If Lucas can convince Jane that his intentions are as pure as the falling snow, they’ll turn a dreary December into a joyous Yuletide affair.

Review:
I always have a hard time writing reviews when it comes to anthologies, but an even harder job rating the book – do I rate it overall or do each story separately; should I average out the reviews for an overall (and yes, I know that I am probably overthinking this!) Anyways, I think for this instance, I am going to break them down into individual ratings and then average the ratings out.

The star of the anthology was definitely Ruthie Knox’s book – i have to say that she has become one of my favorite new authors that I discovered in 2012. Her romance set while biking across the US is a top 20 book for me. I loved the tension between Julie and Carson until they finally caved and gave into their feelings that had never really gone away. Carson’s relationship with his father was entertaining – you could see a hint of a matchmaker in him – a bit of deviousness. I have to admit when I saw the title of this story that I was expecting a trite play on the birth of Christ that seems to always happen in books set around Christmas – so I was pleasantly surprised to not have to deal with that. I’d give this story a solid 4 stars.

My least favorite of the three was Molly O’Keefe’s. I think mostly because it was the shortest and I just didn’t feel like I got a chance to know any of the characters. Maddy drove me nuts with her naivity and it was like I could easily see what was going to happen in the future (which was confirmed with the glimpse into the next book in the series that I saw). I honestly don’t know if I will be picking up any books by her in the future – probably only borrow from the library, or with a very strong recommendation from a friend. Overall, I’d only give this story 2 stars

The last book in the anthology fell right in the middle for me. I didn’t like it as much as Ruthie’s, but I am intrigued enough, that I added one of the authors other books to my ever expanding TBR list to read in the future. I liked that it was the only historical in the bunch – it was something different that was needed. The secondary characters/animals kind of made the story for me – especially the donkey – I just laughed as his antics. There were a few moments of stupidity between the main couple (and I wanted to Gibbs slap them for sure) – but they did kind of grow on me. I hope that they appear in other books by her in the future, because I want to know more.

The anthology in general was well-written, and aside from the one disappointing story, it was well worth the read. And even then it wasn’t like the disappointing story was badly written, it was (for me) just too short and lacking omph. Overall, averaging out the ratings, I would give it 3 stars, but making it 3.5 to weigh in the fact that the story I liked the most, was a chunk of the book (I think that is good justification!).

Merry Christmas Everyone! Hope to see you all in the New Year!

 
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Posted by on December 25, 2012 in Book Review

 

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